The article states "Buyer’s Premium doesn’t concern me if I want the item: 11%."

From my experience I don't see folks adjusting their bidding down on the items I've been interested in at past auctions with high Buyer's premiums. I'd say the percentage in the above quote from the article is much higher for oil and gas auctions. In the end, I see items selling for more than what they are worth when the buyers premium is addded to the hammer price.

As each year passes, I'm coming to the realization, I need to win the lottery to continue collecting the items that catch my eye.

the premiums are crazy. people will keep bidding as long as there are good consignments. the big auction houses spend a ton, thats why they charge a ton. will they shut down? no. will people stop buying/consigning? no.

the answer will eventually be competition. The hobby is in dire need of a honest, trustworthy, dedicated, and fair auction company. I believe this will eventually come to fruition. The key will be having contacts within the high-end collector world... so that the consignments come in. If someone does take on this huge commitment, I think that will be the only answer in battling the current premiums.

"that competition for high-end consignments has resulted in lower commission revenue, an increase in buyer’s premiums was necessary to maintain profit margins and revenue"

Copy and pasted this from that article.Basically the auction houses are saying, we'll damned if we're taking a pay cut!Nothing to do with increases in the cost to run business.

That's like oil companies saying they aren't making enough on gas sales. I would bet these guys are paying themselves more each year, increases beyond what any 9-5er gets in pay raises from companies they work for.

Each time I was going to bid on an item in the last auction, had my calculator at the ready and stopped when it reached the amount I wanted to pay. Did not get anything and probably won't. but there is no shortage of people willing to pay.

How is anyone being fleeced? Buyers know before they place a bid that they'll have to pay the premium. The buyers premium is a tool that auctioneers use to attract consignors. Auctioneers can offer lower commissions to sellers by shifting a portion of the commission to the buyer. It also allows the auctioneers an opportunity to make more money because the combined sellers commission and buyers premium are usually higher than what the auctioneer can charge the seller in a non-bp auction.

I absolutely despise the buyers premium, but it's all above board. Buyers have a couple of choices. They can opt to not bid because they don't agree with the premium, or they can adjust their bids to account for the premium (and sales tax, and shipping and handling).

When it comes to collectibles the desire to own certain items outweighs the added expense. That was clearly evident with many items from Kyle Moore's collection bringing extremely high prices. On the other hand the same auction house, with the same premium sold most of the globes in a 2 day sale for wholesale prices. Buyers are much more inclined to figure the added expenses when bidding on more common/less desirable items.

This is an old post but a discussion I had a couple days ago seems to bring it to mind again. I was speaking with the co-owner of a new auction company that charges 15% for consignments and 15% buyers premium. I politely explained my feelings on buyers premiums but it didn't change anything. I feel that with this scenario, the seller is actually being charged 30% to market something, because any smart buyer is correcting his bidding to allow for the buyers premium and effectively stopping his bidding 15% early! While I don't necessarily disagree for the need of increased income for some auction companies, I do disagree with the idea that the consigner should bear the burden. There is the argument that the buyer percentage doesn't actually affect bidders and I call BS on that. It may happen sometimes, but any seasoned collector has already calculated his bid amounts with the percentage figured in, and he intends to stop there. I don't know about everyone else but I will NOT consign to a sale with bidder premiums. I don't mind buying at that type of sale because I will have already calculated my bid amounts and won't bypass them. The only scenario where this reasoning goes out the window is when you consign an item and a couple of individuals start fighting over it and the bidding tops all expectations! This happens to certain select items in any sale but certainly isn't the norm. In fact, many times it can go the other way too and the consigner really takes a beating. I have always faced the fact that an auction can be a ***** shoot at times, so I have tried to off set those odds by consigning top quality pieces and shooting for the average on the bunch. It has always worked well for me in the past and was a good method to use when selling in an auction setting, but now that buyers premiums seem to be the norm, I have had to draw the line. I can sell items at a swap meet table and if I want them to sell faster, I can scale down my pricing by 20% and still come out ahead! I sure hope a reputable auction company pops up soon and can exist on strictly a consignment fee. I really feel they will do more business than they ever thought possible! Well, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!